Column: Bonds deserves Hall of Fame bid

The home run king with an asterisk and the most dominant pitcher of the 1990s on steroids are finally up for the Hall of Fame.

Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens will leave their fates in the hands of Hall of Fame voters today as the 2013 class will be announced.

While both players’ statistics are clearly worthy of being displayed in Cooperstown, N.Y., both players tested positive for Human Growth Hormone (HGH) during their playing careers.

It doesn’t help that former stars and steroids users such as Rafael Palmeiro and Mark McGwire have been denied access to the Hall Of Fame, and I believe Clemens should also be rejected.

Bonds, to me, is a different story.

Yes, Bonds used steroids, and yes, his numbers are more inflated than they should be, but this is a player whose career was already Hall of Fame-worthy.

Qualifications for the Hall are usually numbers-based. Five hundred home runs or 300 wins as a pitcher is an all-but automatic pass to Cooperstown.

The use of steroids to reach those numbers will undoubtedly tamper the system.

But Bonds was on pace to get 500 home runs without the use of HGH.

The use of performance enhancers only spiked his home run total to an unprecedented 762.

But there are key differences between Bonds and other steroid users.

Bonds had the best eye at the plate I have ever seen in my lifetime.

Even before his first usage of steroids in 1998, Bonds led the league in walks three times. He is still the all-time leader in bases on balls.

He was even walked intentionally more than any other hitter for seven consecutive years before he began using steroids.

That’s the type of respect he earned as a hitter.

Additionally, Bonds had a naturally great swing, one of the best I’ve ever seen.
So as his career went on, his strikeout totals would sink. In fact, he only struck out more than 100 times in a season once: his rookie year.

But of course, there are the perjury charges and lawsuits, which will also play a role in whether Bonds will make the Hall.

To me, it should not be an issue.

Pete Rose was one of the greatest hitters to ever play the game. He broke a record that was considered untouchable when he passed Ty Cobb in career hits.

But you won’t find Rose’s name anywhere near baseball or the Hall of Fame, because he was banned for gambling on the game.

Rose retired in 1986, and 27 years later, he still is nowhere to be found in Cooperstown.

It’s ludicrous. The all-time hits and home runs leaders both have a chance to never be in the baseball Hall of Fame.

And yes, Bonds lied to Congress, and performance enhancers made his home run numbers what they were, but for close to a decade before steroids, he was one of the brightest stars and best hitters in baseball.

He was in the top 10 in wins above replacement for 11 years before his first use. He had three MVP awards before then.

It’s fair to throw out his numbers after 1998, but I believe it is unfair to keep him out of the Hall of Fame.